AFP - Assailants vandalised a West Bank mosque on Friday, torching its library and spraying hate messages in Hebrew in an attack blamed on hardline Jews angered by plans to curb settlement building. Clashes erupted as villagers hurled stones at Israeli troops sent to investigate the overnight incident at the mosque in the northern West Bank's Yasuf village. The security forces responded with teargas. One of the slogans sprayed on a wall read: "Get ready to pay the price." Another read: "We will burn you all." Village councillors and Palestinian security officials blamed Israelis from a nearby settlement for the attack. The area is home to some of the most hardline settlers who advocate a "price tag" policy under which they target Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening Jewish settlements.
AFP - Assailants vandalised a West Bank mosque on Friday, torching its library and spraying hate messages in Hebrew in an attack blamed on hardline Jews angered by plans to curb settlement building.
Clashes erupted as villagers hurled stones at Israeli troops sent to investigate the overnight incident at the mosque in the northern West Bank's Yasuf village. The security forces responded with teargas.
One of the slogans sprayed on a wall read: "Get ready to pay the price." Another read: "We will burn you all."
Village councillors and Palestinian security officials blamed Israelis from a nearby settlement for the attack.
The area is home to some of the most hardline settlers who advocate a "price tag" policy under which they target Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening Jewish settlements.
Kai Eide, the UN envoy to Afghanistan, has announced his resignation after two years in the post. Was Afghanistan's flawed election the main stumbling block?
The German daily Bild Zeitung has published a report based on sources from German military circles saying that members of a German elite task force were involved in the ordering of the September airstrike near Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, which killed up to 142 Afghans, including civilians. The taskforce, codenamed 'Taskforce 47', was reportedly made up in part of soldiers belonging to the Kommando Spezial Kraefte (KSK), or the German Special Forces Command. Colonel Georg Klein, who was in charge of security of the German military base near Kunduz, was reportedly in consultation with at least five officers before ordering the airstrike; all five of these officers belonged to 'Taskforce 47'. It remains unclear if any of these soldiers were part of the KSK.
The German daily Bild Zeitung has published a report based on sources from German military circles saying that members of a German elite task force were involved in the ordering of the September airstrike near Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, which killed up to 142 Afghans, including civilians.
The taskforce, codenamed 'Taskforce 47', was reportedly made up in part of soldiers belonging to the Kommando Spezial Kraefte (KSK), or the German Special Forces Command.
Colonel Georg Klein, who was in charge of security of the German military base near Kunduz, was reportedly in consultation with at least five officers before ordering the airstrike; all five of these officers belonged to 'Taskforce 47'. It remains unclear if any of these soldiers were part of the KSK.
German defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg made an unnanounced visit to Afghanistan on Friday. He is touring Kunduz, the northern Afghan city where a German commander ordered a NATO airstrike on two hijacked fuel trucks two months ago. The airstrike was reported to have killed over 140 people, including civilians and has led to a scandal over alleged cover-ups. A German defense ministry statement said Guttenberg wanted to visit Kunduz to get a first-hand look at the current situation in the war-torn country. Under pressure from the public Guttenberg has been faced with increasing pressure from the German public to reveal all of the known details behind the NATO airstrike. Guttenberg has recently stated that the attack was "militarily inappropriate", reversing an earlier statement, but opposition parties have said he should have known when he made his first assessment about the civilian casualties. The news weekly Stern reported that Guttenberg had at that stage already received a report from the International Committee of the Red Cross which mentioned 74 civilian deaths, including children.
German defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg made an unnanounced visit to Afghanistan on Friday. He is touring Kunduz, the northern Afghan city where a German commander ordered a NATO airstrike on two hijacked fuel trucks two months ago. The airstrike was reported to have killed over 140 people, including civilians and has led to a scandal over alleged cover-ups. A German defense ministry statement said Guttenberg wanted to visit Kunduz to get a first-hand look at the current situation in the war-torn country.
Under pressure from the public
Guttenberg has been faced with increasing pressure from the German public to reveal all of the known details behind the NATO airstrike. Guttenberg has recently stated that the attack was "militarily inappropriate", reversing an earlier statement, but opposition parties have said he should have known when he made his first assessment about the civilian casualties. The news weekly Stern reported that Guttenberg had at that stage already received a report from the International Committee of the Red Cross which mentioned 74 civilian deaths, including children.
In diesen Tagen ist Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg eher Selbstverteidigungsminister als Verteidigungsminister. An diesem Freitag ist er überraschend mit Parlamentariern zu einem Tagestrip nach Afghanistan geflogen, um mit den Soldaten in Kundus zu reden. Zivilisten sei "fürchterliches Leid" geschehen, sagt er im Frühstücksfernsehen.
France has its Helios satellites, Germany its SAR-Lupe radar aircraft and Italy its Cosmo SkyMed. The problem is that each does not know what the others are doing - or snooping on. Now a new system, called MUSIS, aims to change that. It's been called the great golden gizmo of French military spy satellites and, once it's launched, the Helios 2B promises to upgrade European intelligence gathering, providing high-resolution images of often remote, dangerous terrain and assisting in military risk assessments. On Wednesday, the Helios 2B - a 4,200-kilogram, golden hued satellite - was scheduled to blast off on a European Ariane rocket from a launch site in French Guiana. The launch was, however, indefinitely postponed due to technical problems with the Ariane launcher, according to French defence ministry officials.
It's been called the great golden gizmo of French military spy satellites and, once it's launched, the Helios 2B promises to upgrade European intelligence gathering, providing high-resolution images of often remote, dangerous terrain and assisting in military risk assessments.
On Wednesday, the Helios 2B - a 4,200-kilogram, golden hued satellite - was scheduled to blast off on a European Ariane rocket from a launch site in French Guiana. The launch was, however, indefinitely postponed due to technical problems with the Ariane launcher, according to French defence ministry officials.
a 4,200-kilogram, golden hued satellite
Ooh - shiny!
AFP - India announced on Thursday that it planned to create the country's 29th state, after a hunger strike by a regional leader and escalating protests from supporters. Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the government would begin work to found the separate state of Telangana, which will be carved out of Andhra Pradesh in the southeast. "The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated," Chidambaram told reporters.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the government would begin work to found the separate state of Telangana, which will be carved out of Andhra Pradesh in the southeast.
"The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated," Chidambaram told reporters.
